Strange Noise from Dead WD 250 SATA. NE1 know what it is? 1

[Ahhk]

One of my towers got knocked over (toddler!) while it was running. And it appeared to kill one of the drives. The boot drive (that was being written to at the time) came out fine, but the idle 250G did not. The case fell over on its right side so the drive (label up, connectors towards the back) took the hit from the right as well.

Now, I've had a lot of drives die on me over the (many) years with most of them having the standard type of knocking/clicking. Ive been able to recover the data from a lot of them through freezing/recovery software/etc.

But this one is strange. When I try to power it up, it makes a soft "whhhheeeeeeeeeeep" sound about 20 times and then stops. It never appears to spin up since I dont get any of the gyroscopic effect when holding it.

Freezing it for two days didnt help at all. The comp wont boot with it attached and the OS/Recovery app wont recognize it when I hot-swap it in.

Now, I'm wondering if anyone knows what the failure is in this case. Seize motor? Bad controller? Jammed heads? etc

I really need to get some of the data off of it and was hoping to eliminate some of the expense of trial and error if someone already knows what the sound represents.

I know I should have backed it up. I do backup everything on a regular basis - I learned that over 10 years ago. This drive was SUPPOSED to be just random music and stuff that doesnt get backed up. But I found out afterwards that my wife moved a bunch of important stuff to this drive to make room for a video she was working one a week earlier <sigh>

I cant afford a recovery service so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks.

Ahhk!

 

[goombawaho]

Freezing is NOT a recommended method of "fixing" a hard drive or helping to get data off. It can cause condensation inside the drive.

If you care about the data, stopping mucking about with "voodoo" methods and send it to a professional recovery service like Gillware.

Not cheap, but maybe your only option. You are risking damaging the data beyond recovery with any of your homemade methods.

 

[Ahhk]

Wow. I was kind of hoping for a response that was a little less critical and more on par with what I asked/said.

And, as I said, if I was rolling in cash, I'd just spend the $1000 for the recovery service. But I'm not and I can't.

Feed the family or recover my data. Hrmmm.....

Thanks anyway though.

 

[G0AOZ]

From your description, I'd say it's entirely down to mechanical damage.

A possible scenario could be that the actuator arm got flung from one end of its travel to the other, and either damaged the arm itself or took it out of alignment. It could even be "stuck" in one position, with the actuator mechanism stalling as it tries to move. A bit like holding or jamming the shaft on an electric motor then turning the power on. There's an audible "buzz" as the electrical power increases magnetism in an attempt to turn the shaft. So it may be with the actuator arm...

And since the arm cannot move the heads into position over the platters, it can't read the initial vital data to tell the BIOS the basic drive detail.

So the platters may well still have your data intact, but you would need to rebuild the drive in order to recover anything from them.

That's my take on it for what it's worth...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[edfair]

You are hearing the motor trying to spin up. But it finally gives up.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[goombawaho]

It's more like $500 with the people I mentioned. Sorry to be critical, but it's kind of wild and crazy to start putting drives in the freezer without absolutely knowing that you won't go for the professional restore. I suppose you KNEW that but you didn't explicitly SAY that you wouldn't pay for the restore.

 

[Ahhk]

Thank you G0AOZ and edfair! Both suggestions make sense and now I know where to start and dont have to spend time/money on a PCB swap.

I hope it's the actuator since that would be MUCH easier to replace than the motor.

Could the actuator being out of position in some way cause the motor not to spin up? I guess if it's jammed against the platters in some way it could stop the motor.

The sound is VERY much like the "whhhhheeeeeep" I mentioned, though, and not an electrical type buzz. If it were coming from outside, I'd swear it was a strange bird. If you make the sound with your mouth, that would be it exactly!

Maybe a nice solid WHACK with a hammer on the LEFT side would free it up. Ahhhk. No...just kidding there!

goombawaho: Sorry I didn't explicitly say that "I wouldn't pay for the restore". I said I couldn't afford it. Which is a similar end result.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond folks!

I'll follow up and let you know the result. I'm going in. Wish me luck! :0

Ahhk!

 

[acewarlock]

Back in the old days of computer's when HD's where very expensive, if a HD wouldn't spin up I would gently wack it on the side with the handel of a screwdriver to see if I could free it. 90% of the time it would work and I would do a fast backup and not shut it down until I got everything transfered to another HD.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[Ahhk]

acewarlock:

Yeah, hehe, that's why I mentioned it. I used to do that to when the drives were full height, 5.25", 20 lb tanks. But now, modern drives seem to be placed on the durability food chain just slightly above tissue paper.

Ahh...RLL...MFM...the good ol' days!

Ahhk!

 

[edfair]

But you forgot the 3.5 40mb (ST251, I believe) that gave us the word "stiction". And the movement in the plane of rotation and sudden stop with the palm of the hand that broke the disks loose.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[Ahhk]

Ok, so here's what I discovered.....

The actuator arm does move from the outside edge to the inside edge in like three steps when power is applied.

The the platters dont spin though.

Should you be able to turn the platters/spindle by hand? I ask be cause I can't. Through a ziploc bag, I tried turning the spindle with a pair of pliers. I didnt apply a LOT of pressure but rather just enough to where I thought it should turn.

I'm guessing the motor has seized up? :0

Ahhk!

 

[Ahhk]

Yeah, it IS supposed to turn freely. I opened a old dead 40G'r and it spun like a top.

Dayum! This means pulling the three platters out and never being able to get them aligned.

I wish there were a cheap adjustable clap I could use to hold them in place. Something that I could tighten along the sides of the platters and had an opening in the middle for access to the spindle screws. Maybe use two of them in a X arrangement. The clamp would look like this:

|-------( )--------|
| |
| |

I've seen the $350+ platter removal tools, but wish there were a simpler $5 clamp instead.

Ahhk!